Friday, September 15, 2017

REPUBLICANS WANT THEIR CHEATING MAN BACK

Senate Republicans are trying to build momentum for a last-gasp bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, swearing that they are once again just a few votes short of delivering on their seven-year pledge.

Could this really happen? New York magazine's Margaret Hartmann thinks it's possible:

... something shifted on Thursday. After making a presentation at the GOP caucus lunch, Graham said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “encouraged everybody to jump onboard,” adding, “I can tell you this if we had a vote right now we would get 47, 48 votes.”

If they want to do this, it has to happen by the end of the month, after which they'll need 60 votes, not 50, for repeal. It's a tight squeeze. But they're going for it.

This is about more than Obamacare. In the near term at least, it's also about control of the president. He's cheating on Republicans with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, largely because he can't manage to cut any deals with Republicans and he wants to be with a party that will do the things for him that his party won't do.

How bad is the bill? This bad:

JUST OUT: Here's a summary of the Graham-Cassidy repeal. Yes, it's that bad.

According to the latest POLITICO-Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll, a key finding shows the Trump administration's messaging on health care is clearly resonating with the party's base.

The poll asked 1,016 U.S. adults to review and score 10 top priorities for Congress through the end of the year. Fifty-three percent of Republican respondents said taking action to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act should be an "extremely important priority," while 26 percent of Republicans said it should be a "very important priority." Only 16 percent of Republicans said ACA repeal should not be a priority for Congress....

Among Republican respondents, repealing Obamacare was the most critical priority, outpacing other concerns like tax reform (34 percent said that the issue was "extremely important") and building a border wall (28 percent thought it was "extremely important").

Will this be the extra motivation Republicans need to inspire them to put aside their differences? Will they do it to win Trump back? Don't assume it can't happen.